The regulation of furnished tourist accommodation: once again, the text from the Senate misses its target

For Sylvain Grataloup, president of the UNPI: “The UNPI underlines the very serious dissonance between the objective pursued by this bill aimed at strengthening the regulatory tools for furnished tourist accommodation at the local level and the measures it contains, which are detrimental to owners. Once again, the government is missing its target by supporting a parliamentary initiative which attempts to resolve the housing crisis by focusing on the symptoms rather than the causes..."

The typical rental company for furnished tourist accommodation is not guilty of the housing crisis

This bill, in its current version, suggests a total lack of knowledge on the part of the legislator about the furnished tourist sector in general and the profile of the furnished tourist rental company in particular.

On the one hand, we must remind him that, according to several consistent studies, carried out by Stratégy& and the SPLM[1] at the end of 2023, 9 out of 10 furnished tourist accommodations are primary or secondary residences occupied by their owners and rented occasionally. ? Obviously, these residences, because they are used by the owners, therefore have no vocation to enter the long-term rental stock.

On the other hand, should we remind him that, out of 38 million housing units in France, only 80.000 are dedicated to the activity of furnished tourist accommodation, which represents 0,2% of the French residential stock? It is therefore indisputable that the short-term rental sector has no effect on the long-term rental market.

This is why the objective stated by the legislator to “fight against the phenomena of eviction of permanent residents from tense areas by promoting the placing on the market of housing intended for medium and long-term rental”[2] is missed when we all know that the essential causes of the housing crisis suffered by the French crystallize around multiple phenomena, old and/or more recent.

A regulation toolbox already provided

Deliberately waved like an anti-owner “red rag” which does not speak its name, the proposed law adds a new layer to the already complex regulatory millefeuille and which few local elected officials have yet taken up. Currently, only a few hundred cities have implemented local regulations

furnished tourist rentals when thousands could already do so! And while the Government claims to be committed to administrative simplification for all French people, the UNPI considers that this legislative escalation will further complicate a framework that is already poorly known and poorly understood by many local public actors and reinforce legislative instability. and social. It would have been wiser to carry out a serious impact study of the regulations in force to determine the effects of these measures on real estate speculation.

A new attack on property rights and a significant attack on the purchasing power of owners

Preventing owner-occupiers from renting their primary or secondary residence through furnished tourist accommodation is a further serious attack on their fundamental right to property and restricts their purchasing power in an economically difficult period for everyone.

As such, the UNPI expresses its incomprehension on the following measures in the proposed law: the rental of furnished tourist accommodation could be subject to the establishment of a prior authorization system. The UNPI thus draws the legislator's attention to the cost of these new obligations and the additional administrative burden imposed on owners.

Furthermore, the questioning of the national ceiling of 120 rental days authorized for the tourist rental of the main residence (to increase to 90 days depending on the decision of a municipality following reasoned deliberation), raises questions. Indeed, the housing crisis will not be stopped by these measures which smack of arbitrariness while owners are deprived of an essential source of income for many, a source most often intended to maintain the property or to supplement a salary or income. retirement pension.

Worse still, the UNPI denounces the establishment of an administrative fine "the amount of which could not exceed 20.000 euros" against those who would have made false declarations within the framework of the prior authorization. This is to introduce an unfortunate and vexatious presupposition against owners clearly considered by the legislator as potential delinquents.

Finally, the same observation applies when it comes to taxation. If it seems relevant to question the advantages granted to those who make the activity of furnished tourist accommodation a professional activity, the UNPI denounces the reorganization of the taxation of furnished accommodation as it is presented in the proposal of law. In fact, unclassified furnished tourist accommodation will move to a regime of 30% and 23.000 euros by alignment with the ceiling of the micro-property regime for rental income, thus depriving owners of additional income which has become, for many, essential .

The UNPI therefore does not hesitate to denounce these measures which will only increase the growing impoverishment of owners.

Ultimately, the UNPI underlines the very serious dissonance between the objective pursued by this bill aimed at strengthening the regulatory tools for furnished tourist accommodation at the local level and the measures it contains, which are detrimental to owners. Once again, the government is missing its target by supporting a parliamentary initiative which attempts to resolve the housing crisis by focusing on the symptoms rather than the causes.

Indeed, short-term rental as practiced by owners is not the cause of the growing attrition of the rental stock. Also, the UNPI calls on the government to rethink the fiscal attractiveness of long-term rental and create the conditions for a sustainable and proactive partnership with owners to tackle the housing crisis and make housing a national cause .

[1] “Impact of short-term rental in France” – October 2023

[2] In Proposal for a law aimed at remedying imbalances in the rental market in restricted areas, explanatory statement.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.